New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1887-11-10

wirH some EXAMINATIONS OF rIIE PREVIOUS
With front spsce and other Illustrations evo. PIP.
Nxiv.. 5l5. o. 4. Putnain's SOMA
TO give an INELIGIBLE connected account Of the
Revolutionary movements Of Europe In 1S4S'49
within the limits of a single volume would tue
powers OF the most accomplished historian Nh
Maurice has essayed the work bravely. however
ard his studies have been so careful aud thorough
that the result far the collation. of facts goes
is far more successful and far less confused than
was t. have been expected. Chronological exigen-
ctcs have indeed compelled HIM 10 shift his ground
so often, and 50 abruptly, that many readers may
Lose the thread Of the narrative in one country
through being hurried of 10 observe the
progress of cOntemporaneOus movements IN
other parts of Europe. But this Is a draw
back which is unavoidable from the nature of the
history and from the views of the anthor He pur-
poses to show the relations between the revolt
tonaTy risings In Italy, Anstria-f Hungary and
Germany, and chiefly to support his theory that
these movements owed comparatively little initial
energy to the example of France and were connected
but Eighty with the French Revolution OF 1S4S.
Mr. Maurice however can hardly be said to have
made a study of the continental revolutions from a
comprehensive point of view. He makes 1t appar-
ent, as must any historian who simply states
the facts, that all these movements were fatally
handicapped from their inception; that in
heIlted preudices, race antipathles, self
seeking aud narrow selfshness were more
insupcrable obstacles to the establishment of
free Inst utions than French Austrian cannon
and bayOnets that mites Inc quartels mutual dis
trnst and prevalent ndscpne, perpetually null
fled opportunities and parayzed advance; that
hind enthusiasm was no match for organized
force. and that the revolutions OF lS4S faied
mainly because their projectors were too far in
advance OF their time. But there are other and
hardly less obvious suggestions growing out of
these futile efforts which Mr.. Maurice has not
touched upon at all: winch possibly he overlooked;
vet winch 90 TO the very heart of all serious dis
cusSions of the emancipation OF Europe. through
out the tumultuous experiences of $3.50 and
equally throughout the preceding yearSof prepare
tiop, European history seems to throw into vivid
relief one great fact which is repeated over and
over: which S'rikinGly emphasized by the rise and
fall Of Napoleon BOnapaIte which stands outas the
key ofthe situation in every crisis, from the 18th
BmmaIre to Aspromonte. In Mr.. MaurIce's book
Prince MeteTuch figures as the evil genus of rev.
dictionary Europe. HIS autOcratlc system II Is which
requires he extinction Of liberty. His cold bloOded
maievOence IDcites TO treason, lures to venailty.
terrorlzcs by cruelty, battles by entanglIng parrots
in mutual quarrels. In the end he failed and was
overthrOwn. but surely the reaction which en-
sued cannot be considered ser ously expansion
and advance of the democratic revolution.
Italy is today united. AuStria-Hungary pre- |
senis for the moment n tranquil fTolt. Ger |
many has been absorbed bv Prussia. The |
Republic Survives in France. Bat over |
all these countries the shadows yearly |
deepening: the shadows cast by those unparale ed
military organizations the expense aud mainfen-
ancc of which depetc nationqli'ies wherever they
exit; tic military despotism of whose govern
ment reacts upon the BODY polite IN Schlevously
which are becoming moro and more the state; to /
whose iruculent ambitious there Is ever increasing
danger that the popular interests will be sacrihced
which are heatheulzlHg and bruta'izng rheir re-
spective governments and people TOO and which |
menace Europe with horrors and suiierinGs COM
pared to which the commissions OF the close of the
last century were Insignificant The Red Spectre
Is not a phantom of dcs1oti.m autocracy. 1t is
the symbol of that disioyaty to common human
fly which In all apcs has made rho masses the
agents of their oppression and has furnished
tyranis the of establishing and |
perpetuating their rule. To the cynic phi
lOsopher what be more grimly absurd than
the spectacle of Frenchmen, fresh from the celc-
bratiom OF the Constitution. marching forth to put
down the liberties of tneT neigh bOrs of Ausfrians
newly arrived from participation in a Vienna revo-
lutioL. cannonadmg their Hungarian fellow-citl-
gems at the order of Metternich Francis Joseph;
|
hand the banner of freedom and with the other
putting manacles Croatia aud Rumania; of
the Berlincse. freely contcnding for their own
privileges and then gayly proceeding to crush ont
all aspirations for freedO % among the SaXODs and !
Bavarians.
Naturally the despots in power act after their
kind nothing less is expected of them. As more
over they stand upon force; since all their ex-
perence tesi6es to It's supreme efficacy; since the
people every where contribute submissIvely to it's
organization; they would be fools not to have re-
course to 1t when emergencies arise. But the peo-
pie the friends and advocates of liberty, the
enemies OF tyranny, how is 1t that tnev have not
realized the true significance, the true relation 10
ell their hopes and pars, of that heaviest menace.
past or present, to all advance In popular freedom.
the great standing arnie-f II Is not onlv III the
hands of des pots that these agencies are dangerous
The trainers of the Constitution Of the United
Staies were wise far beyond their generation when
they provided against the existence of great
standing army from the beginning of this republic.
The standing army Of the first French Republic
proved Its ruin. and ever since has been turned
against the people at every crisis In 1882
its murderous voleys made shambles OF the Paris
streets and cleared the way OF the traitor Prince
LOUIS Napoleon to empire. 1t blind force ter
rlble as those Of Nature. faithful only to its
immediate commanders, an equally tremen-
dous weapon whether IN the hands of an
autOcrat or q republican. The liberties of Ru-
mania stamped out even more rnthessly by
the soldiers of the Apostle OF Freedom. Kossuth.
than those of Poland by the troops Of the Car.
Lombardy and Venetia suffered no more under the
iron rule of Austria than dld Transylvanla under
the liberty-Oving hagyars The example OF the
Pre- torian Guard, too. has been many times fol-
lowed, and armies organized TO protect their
country have SOLD her, as of Old the Empire of
Rome was sold, to the highest bidder.
1t is needless to multiply arguments against
standing armies. They have ever been the great est
hlndfances 20 freedom. tho greatest stumbling
blocks IN the way of civilization. and they more
formidable obs acles at this moment than
1t any time Yet If their evil influences patent